The present invention relates to mobile device positioning.
Low energy transmitting beacons are devices that emit low energy signals that may be received by mobile devices. The beacons emit a signal that includes data that uniquely identifies the beacon.
When a mobile device is proximate to the beacon, the mobile device receives the signal, which often initiates a software routine. For example, if a user device receives a signal from a beacon, the user device may send the unique identifier of the beacon to a server that processes the unique identifier and sends data associated with the unique identifier to the user device. Since the signal is a low energy signal, the user device will only receive the signal when the user device is proximate to the beacon, thus if the beacon location is known, the location of the user device may assumed to be within a short distance from the beacon. Some user devices may measure the strength of the signal which allows the user device to estimate the distance between the user device and the beacon.
Such a system is often used in retail settings where a user device may receive a signal from a beacon located in a retail store. The user device may send the unique identifier of the beacon to a server, the server then sends information to the user such as, for example, information about a sales promotion at the retail store. Thus, targeted advertising may be sent to a user device based on the location of the user device.
A beacon scheme may also be used to instigate other features of a mobile device, such as, for example, mobile electronic payment or banking applications.